On Mixing Languages Up

The other day it happened again. I’m sick of mixing languages up! It’s so pathetic! And it has been happening to me since...well, since I have to do with 5 languages now. The worst of all is that I deal with almost every single of them every single day so my mind just cannot concentrate on one or two of them and therefore mixes them up all the time. Really pathetic!

It’s embarrassing to talk to an English native-speaker and build the following sentence: I don’t know, ob du das schon... Horrible! And every time after throwing up such a nonsense I get to the point when I have to apologize how I deal with several languages and how none of them seems to find its box in my head where it settles down once and for all and does not come out from it mixing up with the contents of the other four boxes. I sometimes imagine these five languages as disobedient, unruly and mischievous children whom I have to take care of, constantly looking after them and calming them down.

It is, of course, not always like this. If I stay longer in a monolingual environment then it is OK. I get into the language schemes and structures and just drown in them leaving all other languages as well as all their lexis, syntax etc. aside. The result is, the language-responsible centers in my mind feel at ease, completely comfortable with the situation and not having to struggle with each of my five naughty kids. Perfection! But if the situation changes and at least two of them get involved in the same game, at the same time – uh, then I do have a problem!

I still do not know how to cope with such situations. I haven’t found the golden rule yet but I keep searching. The paradox is, if you think that the more you have a command of a language, the rarer you would mix it up with the others available on your ‘language-hardware’ – you’re wrong. It is more often than not just an illusion - particularly if you have spent weeks or months in a monolingual environment. The master-and-commander feeling comes over really quickly but as soon as you leave the mono-environment you’re done with the convenience.

And still I find it interesting. The whole process of taking hold of your own knowledge and making it obedient has some hidden charm. It reminds me of the omnipresent truth that theory without praxis, knowledge without knowing how to implement and deal with it, has little to do with the real world.

Practice!